Email Marketing: 5 Ways to Increase Open Rates for Gaming Affiliates

An email marketing campaign is only as good as the people who open and read your emails. There are key factors that influence people to open an email, and if they are overlooked, your open rates can plummet and all the great analytics in the world won’t save your campaign.

Here are 5 effective ways to increase your email open rates.

Write Strong Subject Lines

Your subject line should always include an incentive for the recipient to open the message. Use action words like “discover” and “learn,” as well as numbers, i.e. “5 Ways to Increase Email Open Rates.” Subject lines should give the recipient a brief introduction to the content of the email—this will better the chances of the email being read in full, and perhaps the reader clicking on a link or two.

Check Your List

Check your email list frequently to find addresses that bounce. These addresses are likely no longer active, were never real to begin with, or include a misspelled name. If a contact has not opened an email from you in the last month, remove them. By keeping your list updated, you ensure that your emails are being sent to those who have a legitimate chance of opening them.

Check Your Spam Warnings

ESP’s can run spam checks on your emails before sending them out. These checks look for certain words or formatting that might trigger a recipient’s email to mark your message as spam—such as incorporating Free or Act Now phrases in your subject line, including too many links or dead links, and over-usage of different fonts, type sizes and images. A spam check should always be used prior to any email marketing campaign.

This may sound simple, but make sure that you send emails people will actually want to read. Sending content that interests or provides a service to your readers will encourage them to visit your site, become subscribers, etc. Use your emails to offer discounts or bonuses, tips and tricks of the casino trade, Q&A sessions from industry insiders, etc.

Tip: To further increase open rates, create a “heads-up” alert prior to an email campaign. This could mean posting a message on your social media sites; i.e. “We have big news coming soon – be sure you’re signed up to our email list,” etc.

Time the Email Appropriately

Due to smartphones and tablets, emails are now being read more in the morning hours, so send emails for early commuters. This applies to weekends, too, as more workers are connected seven days a week. Also, take advantage of off-peak hours—such as lunchtime or toward the end of the day – when fewer emails are sent.

Tip: Test and test again. Send one email broken up into different time slots to find out which one is best received, and then use this as your primary time slot.

How often do you check your email open rates? Do you use any of the tips provided or others not listed here? Let us know in the comments below.